The price increase announced by US domestic flat rolled steel mills in late January may have failed to gain traction, but the subsequent $2.00 cwt. ($44/mt or $40/nt) increase announced by US domestic tube mills has taken hold.
Current US domestic HSS prices are up by $2.00 cwt. ($44/mt or $40/nt) since our last report, which brings today’s average spot market price transaction range to $53-$54 cwt. ($1,169-$1,191/mt or $1,060-$1,080/nt), ex-mill.
Today’s range is up slightly from levels seen during the same reporting period in 2018, when prices were heard at $52.00 cwt. ($1,146/mt or $1,040/nt), ex-mill.
“The markets seem to have finally found their place,” a source said. “We certainly don’t expect the huge run-up in prices during Q1 of this year, that we saw last year when Section 232 was announced. If there is going to be a run-up, I don’t see the market going up by too much, and I doubt it would happen before the end of the quarter,” a source said, adding that demand is still “pretty good.”
“Demand is starting to pick up,” another source added, noting that a number of service centers were fortunate enough to have made some buys in advance of mills’ increase announcement. “There was some restocking that had to be done because inventories had been drawn down. The market as a whole seems to be doing well and holding its course.”